As you prepare to resume business operations, all employers need to consider how best to decrease the spread of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) and lower the impact in your workplace. Although the majority of the coronavirus transmissions have likely been via direct person-to-person contact, the potential risk of the coronavirus being spread by contaminated surfaces is still threat. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has consistently stated: “It may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes.”
One scientific study published in a research letter published in the Lancet Microbe found the coronavirus to be detectable on the following surfaces listed in the table below. In general, viruses tend to survive longer on surfaces that are hard and impermeable than porous surfaces.
MATERIALS DURATION
- Plastic - Bottles Up to 4 days
- Stainless Steel Up to 4 days
- Glass Containers Up to 2 days
- Cloth Up to 1 day
- Paper Product Up to 30 minutes
- Aluminum - Soda Cans 2 to 8 hours
THE CHALLENGE – IS YOUR WORKFORCE AT HIGH-RISK?
As you perform a risk assessment of your workforce, you will quickly realize not all jobs roles are the same. While only 29% of American workers are able to work from home and carry out their jobs from a safe place, the remaining workforce face a higher risk of potential exposure to the coronavirus due to: (i) contact with others, (ii) physical proximity, and (iii) exposure to disease and infection. This last grouping can be quickly assessed by understanding the hazardous conditions the employee is exposed.
LITTER MANAGEMENT IS HIGH-RISK
Many maintenance employees are in a high-risk occupation because of the great exposure to hazardous conditions. In performing their primary task, litter pickers expose themselves to discarded debris that based on the table above can be easily contaminated and ultimately considered hazardous material. As a result, the employer must take many safeguard measures to protect its workforce, like practicing social distancing, providing personal protective equipment (PPE) litter (gloves and masks) but for litter pickers is that enough?
NEW APPROACH
To lower the risk of exposure to this high-risk occupation, litter pickers, we introduce a unique tool that helps mitigate the high frequency of exposure to hazardous material compared to the traditional method of collecting litter.
TRADITIONAL LITTER GRABBING TOOLS
The traditional litter picking tool is the 32” litter picker, which requires the user to painstakingly pick-up a single piece of litter one piece at a time. When a user uses this tool, they must carry a plastic trash bag with one hand while holding the tool in the other. The user then must bring the litter towards their body in order to dispose the piece of litter into the trash bag one piece at a time. This common method is very risky because the litter may touch the worker’s body and/or clothing one piece at a time – creating high frequency of exposure to potentially hazardous material – see image below for illustration of the traditional method.
High-Risk Method
THE SOLUTION
Combating something as deadly serious as coronavirus demands not scrimping on the quality of the tools you use—from disinfectants to application devices to personal protective gear for your employees. A new product worth adding to your “must have” tools is GRAB-ALL. This is a new patent pending professional grab-tool used to pick-up bulky piles of debris/litter when litter on the streets or even garbage on the floor. Ideal for maintenance workers and janitors, the product is designed with 48” long handles, which create a safe distance between you and the hazardous litter. Litter is then disposed into a freestanding container at a safe distance from direct contact with the litter. See image below for safe distance illustration.
48-inch Safe Distance
Another great feature about the GRAB-ALL is that litter can be easily gathered by shoving litter into a large pile with the paddles eliminating the frequency of exposure to potentially hazardous material while permitting the user to pick-up litter easier, quicker, and safer.
Grab-All Easily Gathers Litter – Shoving Technique